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COURT PRESIDENT JOINS UNESCO PANEL TO DISCUSS ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN ENHANCING PRESS FREEDOM

03.05.2018 // By T.Netshivhale

The President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Hon. Justice Jérôme Traore will be among the discussants at a UNESCO organised seminar on the role of the judiciary in enhancing freedom of expression to be held in Accra on Thursday, 3rdMay 2018 to mark the 2018 World Press Freedom Day.

The session which is on the theme: `` Ensuring the rule of law and fighting impunity: What role for the judiciary in enhancing freedom of expression in Africa?’’ will be moderated by Sylvie Coudray, UNESCO’s Chief of Section Freedom of Expression.

Other panelists include two Judges of the Supreme Courts of Ghana and Uganda, Justices William Atuguba and Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza respectively, Ms. Lucy Freeman, Chief Executive Officer of the London-based Media Legal Defense Initiative as well as Ms. Anneke Meerkotter Litigation Director, Southern Africa Litigation Center.

Also on the panel are Ms. Ndey Tapha Sosseh, Special Advisor on Media, Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure of The Gambia, and Mr. Madieyna Bakhoum Diallo, Deputy Director, Judiciary Training Institute of Dakar (Senegal).

According to UNESCO, the programme is intended to provide a forum for diverse actors to discuss the interplay between the media, the judiciary and the rule of law within the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The celebration originated in the Windhoek Declaration on promoting an independent and pluralistic press, adopted in Namibia in 1991 and this year’s observance is being held under the theme ‘ Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and the Rule of Law.’